Saraki, Olubadan To Lead 23rd Daily Trust Dialogue

Former Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki will chair the 23rd edition of the Daily Trust Dialogue, scheduled for Thursday, January 22, 2026, at the NAF Conference Centre and Suites, Abuja.

In a statement issued to journalists yesterday in Abuja, the chief executive officer of Media Trust Group, Ahmed Shekarau, said Saraki, a two-term governor of Kwara State from 2003 to 2011, had accepted to chair the dialogue themed, “Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: What Is Working and What Is Not.”

Shekarau said the former Senate President, who represented Kwara Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly from 2011 to 2019, would preside over the event, bringing to bear his wealth of experience as a key political actor and keen observer at both national and sub-national levels for nearly three decades.

Before venturing into politics, Saraki, the Waziri Ngeri of Ilorin, worked as a medical officer at Rush Green Hospital, Essex, United Kingdom, between 1988 and 1989, after graduating from the London Hospital Medical College, University of London, where he obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree in 1987.

He later became a director of the defunct Société Générale Bank Ltd in 1990, a position he held until 2000, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Special Assistant on Budget.

According to the statement, His Imperial Majesty, the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, will serve as the Special Guest of Honour at the dialogue, where eminent public figures from within and outside government are expected to speak extensively on the event’s theme.

Ladoja, who was crowned the 44th Olubadan of Ibadan in September 2025, served as governor of Oyo State from 2003 to 2007 and represented Oyo South Senatorial District in the Senate during the Third Republic between 1992 and 1993.

The monarch, a graduate in chemical engineering from the University of Liège, Belgium, where he studied from 1966 to 1972, has extensive experience in the private sector, having worked for 13 years at Total Nigeria in various capacities.

He began private investments in 1985, with interests spanning shipping, manufacturing, banking, agriculture and transportation.

He was installed as Jagun Balogun of Ibadan in 1993 and later became a director of Standard Trust Bank Limited in 2000.

Media Trust Group, owners of Daily Trust, Aminiya, Trust TV, Trust Radio and Digital Trust, disclosed that the 23rd Daily Trust Dialogue would be a multi-layered event, featuring a pre-event countdown involving the production, publication and broadcast of curated content highlighting some of the most defining moments of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic since 1999.

The high-level dialogue forum traditionally brings together political leaders, policymakers, industry players, academics, professionals and other critical stakeholders from across Nigeria and Africa to examine and offer insights into pressing socio-political and economic issues.

According to the statement, this year’s edition of the Daily Trust Dialogue will be open to members of the public.